The Swing Set

For Taylor's birthday we wanted to get him something he could use for a long time, so we bought him a swing set.
The start of the day, Saturday. Our house guest, Truman started helping Ben put it together.

Then my brother came over to help...and then my dad on Sunday...how many men does it take to put together a swing set? For us it was 5 total...lol.

Taylor "helping"

And then came Jason...we had him and his wife, Carly and there baby Cameryn over for dinner. We thought we'd be done building it by Sunday evening but they were still going strong. Poor Jason...thought he was just coming over for dinner and got put to work...sorry!


The final product. We absolutely love it and so does Taylor. He got him a baby swing and he points out to it every morning so we can go play on it. He also loves the slide, if you put him on top of it, he gets on his belly and slides down.

Taylor's Birthday

Taylor's Birthday...his already 1. This year has gone by so fast I can't believe it. He is no longer a baby. It was so cute, he took the blue bow off his present, showed Ben and then put the bow back on the present. He didn't do much unwrapping, we had to do it for him. I thought he would enjoy ripping the paper but he wasn't interested at all. So funny.






I wanted to get him a small cake for his actual birthday on July 24th. He's big cake will be for his party. (Just wait you will all think I'm crazy...Ben already does.)


Everyone taking pictures of Taylor...so much attention.



Taylor seriously ate the whole piece of cake we gave him. He got some on himself, but mostly he ate it all...wow!

Taylor's 1

Tayor's photo shoot...1 years old!

My Birthday

Ben asked me what I wanted for my birthday...I told him I wanted my tattoos, because I was done waiting for him to decide what he wanted for his. We were suppose to get them together several years ago. So, he surprised me and made all the appointments to get mine done on my birthday. Ben and Taylor also took me to breakfast that morning. It was a wonderful day!

Step 1, outline

Step 2, shading

Step 3, color

I had my wrist done as well, but Ben didn't document this one as well on the day of. Both tattoos took about 4 1/2 hours to do.

This is a few days later, better pictures I think.

4th of July

For the 4th of July, my grandparents invited us to their country club for a bbq dinner and fireworks. They have all sorts of stuff for the kids to do...most of it Taylor was too small for, but he was very interested in the horses. They had a seat small enough for him to sit in. He absolutely loved the ride...(I told Ben, know we HAVE to get a horse!..someday)

Maybe too close!

My dad & Kelly

Me, Cris (my cousin) and Will (my brother)

It rained most of the day...but finally the skins cleared!

Grandpa & Grandma

Taylor eating ice cream

Cris thought it would be funny to give him 2 spoons at a time! Sugar rush!

Taylor wasn't so thrilled with the balloon animals, he kept trying to squeeze it and we didn't want it to pop in his face.



They gave all the kids these light up necklaces that glow in the dark. (Can't really tell in the picture) Taylor had so much fun with them. My grandpa didn't think 1 was enough so Taylor got 10 I think.

Cris says..."I don't have any pictures of myself, take one of me." He's a hansom guy, isn't he!


Taylor watching the fireworks. He did so good for staying up so late. And the fireworks didn't scare him at all, we think he really enjoyed them.